Photo from www.wildroseyoga.com
Paul Grilley, a yoga instructor and student of kinesiology from California, has a fascinating DVD series titled, “Anatomy for Yoga.” Among many topics discussed in this four hour DVD Grilley talks about, and demonstrates, using props and people, the concepts of tension versus compression, and the importance of skeletal proportion.
What does anatomy have to do with yoga? Well, everything really. When a person steps into a yoga class for the first time he or she may be a little self conscious, because other people may be “more flexible.” Whenever I speak with someone about their reservations regarding attending yoga, the typical response I receive is, “i'm not flexible enough.”
Well, I have good news for everyone! YOU ARE FLEXIBLE ENOUGH! In fact, everyone is flexible enough to do yoga! There are different degrees of flexibility because each person is different, and although we have beautiful models of the human skeletal system (Mr. Bones from 3rd grade science class?!) that show proportionate bones and joints, you guessed it, that is not what our skeletal system looks like on the inside, because, yes, every skeletal system is different!
Knowing how to determine the difference between tension and compression within your own body will give you insight into your level of flexibility; it will help you determine where your limits are, and where you have the ability to push yourself a little bit further. Grilley shared a piece in information in his DVD's that has stuck with me regarding how to tell the difference between tension and compression. He says, if you feel a pull from behind it is tension, if you feel a block infront, it is compression.
Take a simple seated forward fold for example; sit bones connected to the mat, legs outstretched before you, arms at your sides. Inhale to raise your arms up toward your ears, push forward into your hips to align the spine, then hinge and lower your torso and arms down toward your legs. Stop where you are comfortable, resting your hands on your legs. What do you feel? There are many different options for what you might encounter here: a pull along the back of your legs (hamstrings), or tightness in your glutes both demonstrate tension. Ease yourself into the move, hold it for varying amounts of time, depending on your goals, depending on your mood that day. These pulls (or the feeling of a “stretch”) from behind are indications that you can move further into this pose, that you are able to become more flexible here. Now, if you are in seated forward fold, and you feel nothing through your legs and glutes, they are perfectly relaxed, yet you still are unable to fold your body completely down over your legs, then you might be feeling that something is blocking you from folding forward. This block is compression, it means you are bone on bone. If this is where you are, you have a couple of options, you can remain where you are, or you can separate your legs slightly to see if that removes the block, and you can lower yourself down further. Yoga is a very individual practice, as individual as each person who enters the room, and you should never be fearful of taking your own modification in a yoga class. You know your body, and level of comfort better than anyone else.
Moving into a different pose, how does the block in the front/ pull in the back change? Come into downward dog, hips lifted into the air, knees slightly bent, feet about hips distance apart. Bring your arms along side your ears, gaze is down toward the floor, or back toward your feet. Relax the shoulders, try to let the crown of your head travel down toward your hands (elongating the neck). Most of the time, when in this position a persons heels will be lifted slightly off the floor. If that is not the case, I would encourage the person to step their feet back slightly, keeping the arms in the same position, and try to push the hips further up toward the ceiling, this will change the angle of the back slightly, making it straighter. For ease of demonstration, let's just say that your heels are lifted off the mat. When you try to straighten your legs to push the heels down toward the mat, what do you feel? If you are feeling a pull along the back of your legs, you are experiencing tension, meaning you have further to go. A good method for relieving tension from the hamstrings and calves in this pose, is to alternate bending one knee, while straightening the other leg to push the heel down into the mat. If you are feeling something blocking you, along the front of your ankle, then you are bone on bone, and this is as far are you will be able to go in this pose.
Pull in the back, tension, proceed gradually; block in the front, compression, stop or find a modification. Simple concepts to understand, and helpful when entering into unfamiliar territory where one might think that others with more experience will do the poses “better.” Truth? You will never look like the person next to you in any pose, and that is okay; the goal is to leave the room feeling good.
Another of my favorite topics is skeletal proportion. Most people know if they have a long torso, and short arms and legs, or longer appendages, with a shorter torso; but not many people stop to think how that might effect their movement.
If I have a long arms it might appear as though I am “more flexible” than a person with short arms, because I can touch my toes with ease, when really it is the proportion of my bones that gives me the ability to touch my toes. A person with longer arms might be able to reach the floor during triangle, while a person with a longer torso might be further away from the floor. This is where the use of props can be helpful. In triangle the feet are about a yard away from one another, feet perpendicular to each other, the torso is bent toward the toes that are pointing at the short side of the mat, and one arms is reaching up, while the other is reaching down. A block can go under the hand of a person in triangle who is not able to reach the floor. Placing your hand on a block instead of straining to reach the floor or putting pressure on your leg, will relieve tension from the side of your body, a place where you do not need to be experiencing tension, and it will enable you to push your top shoulder and top hip back, aligning your body properly. Use of these props indicate an understanding of the body and a desire to improve upon form.
Anatomy plays such an important part in yoga, even beyond what I have briefly touched upon here. Just through understanding tension versus compression, and skeletal proportion we can see how flexibility can be mimicked, and why no two people will ever look the same in a yoga pose. I hope that this encourages some who have never tried yoga to participate, and to those of you who already do, I hope that you have a better understanding of how these concepts apply to your own body, and the next time you attend a class, take the focus off how you “should look”, and bring it back to how you should feel.
Remember, every body is different, come as you are for a greater understanding of how yours works.
Peace-
Dana :)
Paul Grilley, a yoga instructor and student of kinesiology from California, has a fascinating DVD series titled, “Anatomy for Yoga.” Among many topics discussed in this four hour DVD Grilley talks about, and demonstrates, using props and people, the concepts of tension versus compression, and the importance of skeletal proportion.
What does anatomy have to do with yoga? Well, everything really. When a person steps into a yoga class for the first time he or she may be a little self conscious, because other people may be “more flexible.” Whenever I speak with someone about their reservations regarding attending yoga, the typical response I receive is, “i'm not flexible enough.”
Well, I have good news for everyone! YOU ARE FLEXIBLE ENOUGH! In fact, everyone is flexible enough to do yoga! There are different degrees of flexibility because each person is different, and although we have beautiful models of the human skeletal system (Mr. Bones from 3rd grade science class?!) that show proportionate bones and joints, you guessed it, that is not what our skeletal system looks like on the inside, because, yes, every skeletal system is different!
Knowing how to determine the difference between tension and compression within your own body will give you insight into your level of flexibility; it will help you determine where your limits are, and where you have the ability to push yourself a little bit further. Grilley shared a piece in information in his DVD's that has stuck with me regarding how to tell the difference between tension and compression. He says, if you feel a pull from behind it is tension, if you feel a block infront, it is compression.
Take a simple seated forward fold for example; sit bones connected to the mat, legs outstretched before you, arms at your sides. Inhale to raise your arms up toward your ears, push forward into your hips to align the spine, then hinge and lower your torso and arms down toward your legs. Stop where you are comfortable, resting your hands on your legs. What do you feel? There are many different options for what you might encounter here: a pull along the back of your legs (hamstrings), or tightness in your glutes both demonstrate tension. Ease yourself into the move, hold it for varying amounts of time, depending on your goals, depending on your mood that day. These pulls (or the feeling of a “stretch”) from behind are indications that you can move further into this pose, that you are able to become more flexible here. Now, if you are in seated forward fold, and you feel nothing through your legs and glutes, they are perfectly relaxed, yet you still are unable to fold your body completely down over your legs, then you might be feeling that something is blocking you from folding forward. This block is compression, it means you are bone on bone. If this is where you are, you have a couple of options, you can remain where you are, or you can separate your legs slightly to see if that removes the block, and you can lower yourself down further. Yoga is a very individual practice, as individual as each person who enters the room, and you should never be fearful of taking your own modification in a yoga class. You know your body, and level of comfort better than anyone else.
Moving into a different pose, how does the block in the front/ pull in the back change? Come into downward dog, hips lifted into the air, knees slightly bent, feet about hips distance apart. Bring your arms along side your ears, gaze is down toward the floor, or back toward your feet. Relax the shoulders, try to let the crown of your head travel down toward your hands (elongating the neck). Most of the time, when in this position a persons heels will be lifted slightly off the floor. If that is not the case, I would encourage the person to step their feet back slightly, keeping the arms in the same position, and try to push the hips further up toward the ceiling, this will change the angle of the back slightly, making it straighter. For ease of demonstration, let's just say that your heels are lifted off the mat. When you try to straighten your legs to push the heels down toward the mat, what do you feel? If you are feeling a pull along the back of your legs, you are experiencing tension, meaning you have further to go. A good method for relieving tension from the hamstrings and calves in this pose, is to alternate bending one knee, while straightening the other leg to push the heel down into the mat. If you are feeling something blocking you, along the front of your ankle, then you are bone on bone, and this is as far are you will be able to go in this pose.
Pull in the back, tension, proceed gradually; block in the front, compression, stop or find a modification. Simple concepts to understand, and helpful when entering into unfamiliar territory where one might think that others with more experience will do the poses “better.” Truth? You will never look like the person next to you in any pose, and that is okay; the goal is to leave the room feeling good.
Another of my favorite topics is skeletal proportion. Most people know if they have a long torso, and short arms and legs, or longer appendages, with a shorter torso; but not many people stop to think how that might effect their movement.
If I have a long arms it might appear as though I am “more flexible” than a person with short arms, because I can touch my toes with ease, when really it is the proportion of my bones that gives me the ability to touch my toes. A person with longer arms might be able to reach the floor during triangle, while a person with a longer torso might be further away from the floor. This is where the use of props can be helpful. In triangle the feet are about a yard away from one another, feet perpendicular to each other, the torso is bent toward the toes that are pointing at the short side of the mat, and one arms is reaching up, while the other is reaching down. A block can go under the hand of a person in triangle who is not able to reach the floor. Placing your hand on a block instead of straining to reach the floor or putting pressure on your leg, will relieve tension from the side of your body, a place where you do not need to be experiencing tension, and it will enable you to push your top shoulder and top hip back, aligning your body properly. Use of these props indicate an understanding of the body and a desire to improve upon form.
Anatomy plays such an important part in yoga, even beyond what I have briefly touched upon here. Just through understanding tension versus compression, and skeletal proportion we can see how flexibility can be mimicked, and why no two people will ever look the same in a yoga pose. I hope that this encourages some who have never tried yoga to participate, and to those of you who already do, I hope that you have a better understanding of how these concepts apply to your own body, and the next time you attend a class, take the focus off how you “should look”, and bring it back to how you should feel.
Remember, every body is different, come as you are for a greater understanding of how yours works.
Peace-
Dana :)